TRADE UPDATE

Food & Agriculture
April 22, 2025

By Kristy Goodfellow, Vice President of Trade and Industry Affairs, Sophia Vaccaro, CRA Trade Intern, and Charlotte McCourt, CRA Communications Intern

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HIGHLIGHTS

  • Tariffs: The Department of Commerce announced its intent to withdraw from the current agreement suspending antidumping duties on fresh tomatoes from Mexico. In response, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum noted Mexico’s ongoing investigation into the dumping of U.S. chicken and pork legs.
  • Transportation: The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced final Section 301 actions to address China’s dominance in shipbuilding, including fees that will begin in mid-October.
  • Trade: The World Trade Organization released its April 2025 edition of the Global Trade Outlook and Statistics, which forecasts world merchandise trade to fall 0.2%, and North American exports to drop 12.6%.
  • WTO: A coalition of 30 agriculture groups submitted a letter to congressional leaders that emphasizes support for US membership in the WTO.
  • Trump Administration: The Department of Agriculture announced a slate of new appointees, including Riley Pagett, the chief of staff for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, and Courtney Knupp, the senior policy advisor to the secretary for trade and food safety. According to media reports, Douglas Hoelscher has been tapped as USTR’s next Chief Ag Negotiator.

“Mexican tomatoes exported to the United States are non-substitutable. We believe the quota will not be applied; it is a case Mexico has won on several occasions. Even if it were to be applied, our tomatoes would still arrive in the neighboring country, but at a higher price.”

—Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum during an April 15 press conference at the National Palace.

Tariffs

TARIFFS ON MEXICAN TOMATOES

  • On April 14, the Department of Commerce announced its intent to withdraw from the 2019 Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Investigation on fresh tomatoes from Mexico.
    • “The current agreement has failed to protect U.S. tomato growers from unfairly priced Mexican imports, as Commerce has been flooded with comments from them urging its termination. This action will allow U.S. tomato growers to compete fairly in the marketplace,” the U.S. International Trade Administration said in its announcement.
  • U.S. imports of tomatoes from Mexico are a long-standing and sensitive bilateral issue, with suspension agreements in place since 1996.
  • Unless a new agreement is reached, the termination will be in effect on July 14, which is when Commerce will institute an antidumping duty order of 20.91% on most imports of tomatoes from Mexico.
  • Mexico’s President and Secretary of Agriculture commented on this during the April 15 morning press briefing, saying, “there is no dumping.” The pair also mentioned ongoing antidumping investigations in Mexico for U.S. imports of chicken and pork legs.  

Transportation

USTR TAKES SECTION 301 ACTION ON CHINA SHIPBUILDING

  • The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced targeted action to address China’s targeting of the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors for dominance. The actions come after a year-long Section 301 investigation.
  • Many U.S. agricultural exporters raised concerns about the initial proposed actions. Those same voices are now publicly noting improvements in the final actions, but still anticipating an impact on trade.
  • According to the announcement, the United States will begin charging fees to Chinese vessel owners and operators, as well as on operators of Chinese-built ships, after 180 days. The fees will be based on net tonnage per U.S. voyage or on containers, increasing incrementally over the following years.
  • To incentivize U.S.-built car carrier vessels, there will also be fees on foreign-built car carrier vessels based on their capacity.
  • In the second phase, which will take place in three years, there will be limited restrictions on transporting liquified natural gas (LNG) vessels via foreign vessels. These restrictions will increase incrementally over 22 years and aim to incentivize US-built LNG vessels.
  • The deadline for submitting comments is May 19.

Trade

WTO RELEASES GLOBAL TRADE OUTLOOK

  • On April 16, the World Trade Organization released the April 2025 edition of the Global Trade Outlook and Statistics publication.
  • The volume of world merchandise trade is expected to fall by 0.2% in 2025, which is three percentage points lower than expected without the recent policy shifts.
  • North American exports and imports are expected to drop the most in 2025, as exports are forecasted to drop by 12.6%, and imports are expected to drop 9.6%.
  • WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said she is “deeply concerned by the uncertainty surrounding trade policy, including the U.S.-China standoff,” saying that the persisting uncertainty “threatens to act as a brake on global growth.”

World Trade Organization

AG GROUPS URGE US SUPPORT FOR WTO MEMBERSHIP

  • A coalition of 30 agriculture and food organizations submitted a letter to congressional committee leaders with jurisdiction over trade policy stressing the importance of U.S. leadership at the WTO.
  • The letter highlights the importance of global trade to the nation’s farmers and the role of rules-based systems to further the expansion of U.S. food and agriculture exports.
  • American agricultural exports have grown from $62 billion in 1995, when the U.S. first joined the WTO, to $176 billion in 2024.
  • The letter was co-led by the Corn Refiners Association and the International Dairy Foods Association.

Trump Administration

USDA ANNOUNCES NEW TRUMP ADMINISTRATION APPOINTMENTS

  • On April 14, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced several new appointees, including officials with positions relevant to the nation’s trade policy.
    • Riley Pagett was selected to be the chief of staff for USDA’s Office of Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs. Pagett most recently served as the deputy chief of staff for Rep. Tracey Mann (R-KS) and has previously served as chief of staff to the USDA’s Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement.
    • Courtney Knupp was nominated to be the senior advisor to the deputy secretary and senior policy advisor to the secretary for trade and food safety. Knupp most recently served as the vice president of international market development at the National Pork Board. During the first Trump Administration, Knupp served as chief of staff to the assistant secretary of administration in addition to other leadership roles within the department.
  • Separately, according to media reports, Douglas Hoelscher has been picked as USTR’s next Chief Ag Negotiator. Hoelscher most recently worked at the America First Policy Institute and also served in numerous White House roles during the first Trump Administration.
From Doug Hoelscher on X